Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby https://www.budgetpantry.com Thu, 02 Jan 2020 08:10:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.3.2 KidSave + Squirrel Treehouse — Invest for and with your kids & teach them about money in a fun way https://www.budgetpantry.com/squirrelsave-invest-with-your-kids-and-teach-them-about-money-in-a-fun-way/ https://www.budgetpantry.com/squirrelsave-invest-with-your-kids-and-teach-them-about-money-in-a-fun-way/#respond Fri, 22 Nov 2019 07:38:42 +0000 https://www.budgetpantry.com/?p=11208 Building a financially secure future for our children is a marathon, not a sprint. As parents, it is our most important financial responsibility after our own retirement planning. The aim is to avoid being a financial burden on our children. But even better to help our children develop responsible financial habits to secure their own future as early as possible. There are many good wealth-building lessons. But the common learning point is to start early. So why not start early and involve our kids in preparing for their own future? While children don’t have any income, they can be taught life-long lessons about saving early and reducing unnecessary spending, for example on toys. As parents, we have our many experiences of our children asking for new toys, and more toys. Yet, by sharing with our children the concept of money – and the differences between spending, saving and sharing, they will understand the financial trade-offs and consequences. How can we introduce the concept of money and the trade-offs between spending, saving and sharing? Let’s start with two useful tools. First, the lesson content that explains money in an interesting yet simple way for kids to understand and recall. Second, the platform where children put what they learn into practice. Many children can do this via bank savings. Given that our kids grow in a globalised world, why not an investment account to teach them about investing for the future? I’d like to introduce two interesting lesson content and platform tools, namely the KidSave global investment account and Squirrel Treehouse. Both are innovative services offered by SquirrelSave, a global AI-driven investment service. What is SquirrelSave SquirrelSave is a fully AI-driven digital investment manager regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. As part of SquirrelSave’s continuing innovation for positive social impact, SquirrelSave launched its “Squirrel Treehouse” and “KidSave” this mid-November 2019 to facilitate parents who want to teach their children about long-term saving risks and returns. Squirrel Treehouse, the learning platform Squirrel Treehouse is a tool for parents to talk about money and cover financial basics such as saving, spending and sharing. There are interactive activity-based stories that allow parents to discuss financial concepts and values with their children using simple yet relatable examples. The first instalment of Squirrel Treehouse features three themes based on the cute Acorn Squirrel Family character set — Mama, Dada, Sasa, Momo and Gigi. Mama is the ever-sensible mother while Dada is the responsible father. The Acorn children have different money habits – Sasa is the “saver”, Momo the “spender” and Gigi the “giver”. The inaugural themes in Squirrel Treehouse are: 1. Counting Money 2. Needs Versus Wants 3. Saving, Spending, Sharing Fun features include digital avatar tools for children to enjoy creative mix and match versions of each Acorn Squirrel Family characters. Acorn rewards are awarded via online quizzes and activities. The Acorn rewards can be redeemed for various merchandise such as lanyards, plastic Acorn coin sets and Acorn Family character stickers. KidSave, the real-life application With KidSave, parents can now set up an investment goal for each child below 18 years old in SquirrelSave. Parents decide the risk profile setting for the KidSave goal. Better still, engage in discussions with your child. The risk profile is important for our SquirrelSave AI algorithms to understand how much risk you or your child is willing to take for the investment portfolio. It’s crucial to know and use the right risk profile for your investment portfolio. We need to remember that high returns portfolio carries a high risk, and low returns portfolio carries a low risk. The risk here means the probability of losing when the market turns bad, and by how much. There’s no right or wrong about our risk profile, it’s just what we’re comfortable with. A handy tool is our innovative SquirrelSave Risk Profiler which does not use any complicated terms and technical jargon. When you play our SquirrelSave Risk Profiler game, our algorithms will assess your risk-reward behaviour based on the decisions made in a game with penalties and rewards. It will be a good way to introduce the concepts of risk and return to our children. Why investing for your kids now? As we all know, a longer time horizon will smooth out market volatility. Our children have a longer time horizon than us adults. Yet, few children have a diversified global investment account. Most parents park their children’s savings in traditional bank accounts — it’s only giving us a meagre interest rate. Now we offer KidSave as a way to introduce our children to the globalised world of investments. The risk setting is set by you and our machine learning AI will never forget you, working 24/7 on your personal investment portfolio, whether you invest $1 or $1 million. At SquirrelSave, we don’t need any investment knowledge or any decisions. Simply set our risk profile and the AI will design and manage a personalised globally diversified investment portfolio using dynamic asset allocation and in real-time. What’s best, there’s no minimum investment amount! We can get a global investment portfolio even for just one dollar! This is a good start for small investors, even for children — with our supervision and guidance, of course. Come and discover the world of Smart Investing for Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime! *This guest post is brought to you by SquirrelSave*

The post KidSave + Squirrel Treehouse — Invest for and with your kids & teach them about money in a fun way appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

]]> Building a financially secure future for our children is a marathon, not a sprint. As parents, it is our most important financial responsibility after our own retirement planning. The aim is to avoid being a financial burden on our children. But even better to help our children develop responsible financial habits to secure their own future as early as possible.

There are many good wealth-building lessons. But the common learning point is to start early. So why not start early and involve our kids in preparing for their own future? While children don’t have any income, they can be taught life-long lessons about saving early and reducing unnecessary spending, for example on toys.

As parents, we have our many experiences of our children asking for new toys, and more toys. Yet, by sharing with our children the concept of money – and the differences between spending, saving and sharing, they will understand the financial trade-offs and consequences.

How can we introduce the concept of money and the trade-offs between spending, saving and sharing?

Let’s start with two useful tools.

First, the lesson content that explains money in an interesting yet simple way for kids to understand and recall.

Second, the platform where children put what they learn into practice. Many children can do this via bank savings. Given that our kids grow in a globalised world, why not an investment account to teach them about investing for the future?

I’d like to introduce two interesting lesson content and platform tools, namely the KidSave global investment account and Squirrel Treehouse. Both are innovative services offered by SquirrelSave, a global AI-driven investment service.

What is SquirrelSave

SquirrelSave is a fully AI-driven digital investment manager regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. As part of SquirrelSave’s continuing innovation for positive social impact, SquirrelSave launched its “Squirrel Treehouse” and “KidSave” this mid-November 2019 to facilitate parents who want to teach their children about long-term saving risks and returns.

Squirrel Treehouse, the learning platform

Squirrel Treehouse is a tool for parents to talk about money and cover financial basics such as saving, spending and sharing. There are interactive activity-based stories that allow parents to discuss financial concepts and values with their children using simple yet relatable examples.

The first instalment of Squirrel Treehouse features three themes based on the cute Acorn Squirrel Family character set — Mama, Dada, Sasa, Momo and Gigi.

Mama is the ever-sensible mother while Dada is the responsible father. The Acorn children have different money habits – Sasa is the “saver”, Momo the “spender” and Gigi the “giver”.

The inaugural themes in Squirrel Treehouse are:

1. Counting Money

2. Needs Versus Wants

3. Saving, Spending, Sharing

Fun features include digital avatar tools for children to enjoy creative mix and match versions of each Acorn Squirrel Family characters.

Acorn rewards are awarded via online quizzes and activities. The Acorn rewards can be redeemed for various merchandise such as lanyards, plastic Acorn coin sets and Acorn Family character stickers.

KidSave, the real-life application

With KidSave, parents can now set up an investment goal for each child below 18 years old in SquirrelSave. Parents decide the risk profile setting for the KidSave goal. Better still, engage in discussions with your child. The risk profile is important for our SquirrelSave AI algorithms to understand how much risk you or your child is willing to take for the investment portfolio.

It’s crucial to know and use the right risk profile for your investment portfolio. We need to remember that high returns portfolio carries a high risk, and low returns portfolio carries a low risk. The risk here means the probability of losing when the market turns bad, and by how much. There’s no right or wrong about our risk profile, it’s just what we’re comfortable with.

A handy tool is our innovative SquirrelSave Risk Profiler which does not use any complicated terms and technical jargon. When you play our SquirrelSave Risk Profiler game, our algorithms will assess your risk-reward behaviour based on the decisions made in a game with penalties and rewards. It will be a good way to introduce the concepts of risk and return to our children.

Why investing for your kids now?

As we all know, a longer time horizon will smooth out market volatility. Our children have a longer time horizon than us adults. Yet, few children have a diversified global investment account.

Most parents park their children’s savings in traditional bank accounts — it’s only giving us a meagre interest rate. Now we offer KidSave as a way to introduce our children to the globalised world of investments. The risk setting is set by you and our machine learning AI will never forget you, working 24/7 on your personal investment portfolio, whether you invest $1 or $1 million.

At SquirrelSave, we don’t need any investment knowledge or any decisions. Simply set our risk profile and the AI will design and manage a personalised globally diversified investment portfolio using dynamic asset allocation and in real-time.

What’s best, there’s no minimum investment amount! We can get a global investment portfolio even for just one dollar! This is a good start for small investors, even for children — with our supervision and guidance, of course.

Come and discover the world of Smart Investing for Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime!

*This guest post is brought to you by SquirrelSave*

The post KidSave + Squirrel Treehouse — Invest for and with your kids & teach them about money in a fun way appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

]]> https://www.budgetpantry.com/squirrelsave-invest-with-your-kids-and-teach-them-about-money-in-a-fun-way/feed/ 0 Cdd’s Baby Full Month Party + Elsie’s Kitchen’s 2019 Christmas Buffet Menu https://www.budgetpantry.com/cdds-baby-full-month-party-elsies-kitchens-2019-christmas-buffet-menu/ https://www.budgetpantry.com/cdds-baby-full-month-party-elsies-kitchens-2019-christmas-buffet-menu/#respond Thu, 14 Nov 2019 05:18:55 +0000 https://www.budgetpantry.com/?p=11171 Helloooo! Can’t believe Cdd is soon going to be TWO months old! We held a belated baby full month party last weekend when he was six weeks old – for friends and family who haven’t had the chance to see him at the hospital. Who knows all that he did was sleep throughout the event. And when he woke up, he screamed immediately and I had to go upstairs to feed him. We’re really sorry guys! We will have another gathering when he is older and hopefully less angry with the world. *insert roll eye emoji* Our Venue (err I don’t recommend this!) We decided to try holding the party at the multi-purpose space at our block as we’ve seen a lot of events being held there. DON’T DO IT. The ventilation isn’t the best and there are no toilets. Our guests had to go up and down to our unit for toilet breaks. If you want to hold it downstairs your block please arrange for a portable toilet for the convenience of everyone! Lighting was bad also which equates to lousy photos. And not that the rental was cheap!! We will consider Bukit Batok CSC next time … air conditioned with great facilities! But! There are still highlights to the party ok! I rented a bouncy castle for the kids! Cbb was so thrilled … ok she was thrilled BEFORE all the other kids arrived and she suddenly turned upset. ‘Why are you upset, baby girl?’ ‘Because… because… other people bounce my bouncy castle!’ Oh dear, I had told her the week before that I will have a surprise for her. I didn’t expect her to take it that it was a surprise FOR HER ONLY. Wahaha. In happier times… Customised Thematic Decor And because I rented a bouncy castle, I asked the people at Elsie’s Kitchen if we could have a CARNIVAL theme to go with our buffet (their 2019 Christmas Menu is OUT! Go take a look!). And WOW of course they delivered! Yes all the decor you see comes with the buffet catering. Elsie’s Kitchen does customised decor for your event! Take a look at the magic they conjured up for us: Quite cool right?? The colour scheme is on point and the little touches all contributed to the CARNIVAL theme. I always love ordering from Elsie’s because they’re a one-stop-shop. No need to engage decor companies or have a separate pretty dessert table! Baby Full Month Boxes And I also discovered that they also provide BABY FULL MONTH BOXES! We were going to order from somewhere else, then I browsed their website and saw they do the baby full month boxes too! Super awesome really, less headache on logistics and no need to liaise with different vendors. Saves this mummy so much time and effort! You can customise the box sleeve: The Ang Ku Kueh had great reviews… but of course Cbb went straight for the cupcakes. LOL. And now for the 2019 Christmas Catering Menu This Christmas, Elsie’s Kitchen is supporting local farmers and focusing on home-grown fresh produce such as Sakura chicken, seafood (barramundi, prawns and mussels, etc), as well as a myriad of vegetables and mushrooms. Here are some of the dishes from their extensive Christmas selections: Very unique and locally inspired dishes! The Yasai Tempura was the bomb… there were still some leftovers at the end of the party and we packed some home to AIRFRY till perfectly crispy for dinner hehe. It’s seriously AMAZING and not oily at all! I forgot to take a pic of the Iced Lemongrass Sweetened Green Tea. I really liked it! Promo Code for Christmas Catering Enjoy $2 off per pax when you place your Christmas buffet orders with promo code ‘2OFFXMAS’. Date of event must fall before or on 18 December 2019. Browse their Christmas menus here: https://www.elsiekitchen.com.sg/menu/Christmas-Catering-2019 Plan your party now! *Exclusive* For Budgetpantry readers only: Free Decor Upgrade til March 2020! Complimentary upgrade of Customised Baby Full Month Set-up till March 2020 when you pay for one of their basic décor packages. You will receive a free upgrade to a customised theme of your choice, just like our CARNIVAL theme for here! Email sales@elsiekitchen.com.sg to find out more and remember to quote ‘budgetpantry’. The price for their decor packages are super reasonable and you get a customised upgrade. Don’t miss it! Plus, read all my other posts on Elsie’s Kitchen and see all the decor I have had in the past, including Enchanted Forest, Cloud, Under the Sea and more! Elsie’s Kitchen Website: http://www.elsiekitchen.com.sg/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/elsiekitchen/ Email: sales@elsiekitchen.com.sg

The post Cdd’s Baby Full Month Party + Elsie’s Kitchen’s 2019 Christmas Buffet Menu appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

]]> Helloooo! Can’t believe Cdd is soon going to be TWO months old! We held a belated baby full month party last weekend when he was six weeks old – for friends and family who haven’t had the chance to see him at the hospital. Who knows all that he did was sleep throughout the event. And when he woke up, he screamed immediately and I had to go upstairs to feed him. We’re really sorry guys! We will have another gathering when he is older and hopefully less angry with the world. *insert roll eye emoji*

Our Venue (err I don’t recommend this!)

We decided to try holding the party at the multi-purpose space at our block as we’ve seen a lot of events being held there. DON’T DO IT. The ventilation isn’t the best and there are no toilets. Our guests had to go up and down to our unit for toilet breaks. If you want to hold it downstairs your block please arrange for a portable toilet for the convenience of everyone! Lighting was bad also which equates to lousy photos. And not that the rental was cheap!! We will consider Bukit Batok CSC next time … air conditioned with great facilities!

But! There are still highlights to the party ok! I rented a bouncy castle for the kids! Cbb was so thrilled … ok she was thrilled BEFORE all the other kids arrived and she suddenly turned upset. ‘Why are you upset, baby girl?’ ‘Because… because… other people bounce my bouncy castle!’ Oh dear, I had told her the week before that I will have a surprise for her. I didn’t expect her to take it that it was a surprise FOR HER ONLY. Wahaha.

In happier times…

Customised Thematic Decor

And because I rented a bouncy castle, I asked the people at Elsie’s Kitchen if we could have a CARNIVAL theme to go with our buffet (their 2019 Christmas Menu is OUT! Go take a look!). And WOW of course they delivered! Yes all the decor you see comes with the buffet catering. Elsie’s Kitchen does customised decor for your event! Take a look at the magic they conjured up for us:

Quite cool right?? The colour scheme is on point and the little touches all contributed to the CARNIVAL theme. I always love ordering from Elsie’s because they’re a one-stop-shop. No need to engage decor companies or have a separate pretty dessert table!

Baby Full Month Boxes

And I also discovered that they also provide BABY FULL MONTH BOXES! We were going to order from somewhere else, then I browsed their website and saw they do the baby full month boxes too! Super awesome really, less headache on logistics and no need to liaise with different vendors. Saves this mummy so much time and effort! You can customise the box sleeve:

The Ang Ku Kueh had great reviews… but of course Cbb went straight for the cupcakes. LOL.

And now for the 2019 Christmas Catering Menu

This Christmas, Elsie’s Kitchen is supporting local farmers and focusing on home-grown fresh produce such as Sakura chicken, seafood (barramundi, prawns and mussels, etc), as well as a myriad of vegetables and mushrooms. Here are some of the dishes from their extensive Christmas selections:

Very unique and locally inspired dishes! The Yasai Tempura was the bomb… there were still some leftovers at the end of the party and we packed some home to AIRFRY till perfectly crispy for dinner hehe. It’s seriously AMAZING and not oily at all! I forgot to take a pic of the Iced Lemongrass Sweetened Green Tea. I really liked it!

Promo Code for Christmas Catering

Enjoy $2 off per pax when you place your Christmas buffet orders with promo code ‘2OFFXMAS’. Date of event must fall before or on 18 December 2019. Browse their Christmas menus here: https://www.elsiekitchen.com.sg/menu/Christmas-Catering-2019 Plan your party now!

*Exclusive* For Budgetpantry readers only: Free Decor Upgrade til March 2020!

Complimentary upgrade of Customised Baby Full Month Set-up till March 2020 when you pay for one of their basic décor packages. You will receive a free upgrade to a customised theme of your choice, just like our CARNIVAL theme for here! Email sales@elsiekitchen.com.sg to find out more and remember to quote ‘budgetpantry’. The price for their decor packages are super reasonable and you get a customised upgrade. Don’t miss it! Plus, read all my other posts on Elsie’s Kitchen and see all the decor I have had in the past, including Enchanted Forest, Cloud, Under the Sea and more!

Elsie’s Kitchen

Website: http://www.elsiekitchen.com.sg/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/elsiekitchen/
Email: sales@elsiekitchen.com.sg

The post Cdd’s Baby Full Month Party + Elsie’s Kitchen’s 2019 Christmas Buffet Menu appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

]]> https://www.budgetpantry.com/cdds-baby-full-month-party-elsies-kitchens-2019-christmas-buffet-menu/feed/ 0 Tian Wei Signature Confinement Food Review: 28-day Lunch & Dinner Experience https://www.budgetpantry.com/tian-wei-confinement-food-review/ https://www.budgetpantry.com/tian-wei-confinement-food-review/#comments Wed, 23 Oct 2019 16:26:41 +0000 https://www.budgetpantry.com/?p=11122 One of the decisions I had to make when I found out I was pregnant with cdd was whether to hire a confinement nanny or go for confinement food catering. Now that we know how to bathe/feed/change a baby’s diaper as compared to when we were first-time parents, we decided to go with confinement food delivery this time. After doing our research, the choice was clear. We went for the 28-day lunch and dinner confinement food delivery with Tian Wei Signature. My lunch and dinner for the confinement period was settled! And I am convinced I made the right choice! Here’s why: The special menu helps with breastfeeding and proper recovery after childbirth Eating right is vital during the confinement period. Even though I hired a confinement nanny during my #1, she wasn’t exactly the best cook. I wasn’t sure I was getting the nutrients I needed for proper recovery after childbirth. Thinking back, this could be one of the reasons I didn’t have a great breastfeeding journey. With Tian Wei confinement food, I could be assured that every meal – infused with carefully selected ingredients and herbs designed by their head chef, culinary expert Eugene Tan – would help me in my recuperation process. What’s more, their menu is pro-breastfeeding to help in breast milk production. Each meal also comes with 1 litre of red date tea! They offer one of the best traditional confinement food menus in Singapore, along with fusion dishes which you will see in this post. A wide variety of Traditional Confinement Food, Fusion Confinement Food & Confinement Herbal Soup For the 28 days, I never once got bored of my meals! The menu was interesting, varied and nutritious –  made up of traditional and fusion dishes that were hardly repeated. Traditional Confinement Food Their traditional confinement dishes include Braised Pork Trotters in Black Vinegar, Sesame Braised Chicken, Red Fermented Wine Chicken, Braised Chicken with Angelica and Herbs, Steamed Threadfin Fillet with Ginger Broth and Black Fungus and more. According to traditional confinement theory, ingredients used in these dishes – such as  old ginger , sesame oil, rice wine, black vinegar and red dates – help to dispel ‘wind’, remove ‘cold, regulate blood level and stimulate ‘qi’. Fusion Confinement Food Fusion dishes are added to the confinement menu for an interesting mix. You can look forward to Japanese Sesame Chicken and Stir Fried Udon, Kurobuta Pork Loin with Apple Mirin Sauce and Spaghetti, Seared Salmon with Cauliflower Cream and Tri-Colour Grains, Tian Wei Signature Coq Au Vin (a French dish of chicken braised with red wine and other yummy ingredients) and lots more lip-smacking modern dishes. I am salivating just thinking about these! Confinement Herbal Soup And what is a confinement meal without soup? Each meal comes with a big portion of confinement herbal soup to help in recuperating and restoring our bodies’ immunity. Honestly, I know next to nothing about herbs and can’t imagine having to prepare these soups myself. I’m more than happy to leave this to the experts! Some of the soups include: Ginseng Nourishing Soup (人参大补炖汤), Ganoderma Lucidum Stewed Chicken Soup (灵芝炖鸡汤) and the all-time favourite Green Papaya Fish Soup (青木瓜鱼汤). Each meal comes in a generous portion Every meal was enough for two people and I’m not exaggerating – my husband and I shared lunch and dinner every day! Read what other mummies are saying about the generous portions: Customer Testimonials Know your daily menu in advance + special requests Curious to know what’s on the menu? Simply key in your estimated date of delivery (EDD) here and you will be able to view what’s planned for you during your confinement period! Try it! If you have special requirements, just indicate on the online booking form and they will be able to take note. Like you will be able to request no egg and chicken for the first two weeks, or no pork liver or kidney, etc. Quite cool right? How to order? + Enjoy early bird discounts! Ordering is really simple! All you need to do is select your meal package online, enter any special requests, indicate if you would like any add-ons (Bird’s Nest Dessert for $20/week! yums!), make payment online and a representative will be calling you to confirm your order. Click on this link for package prices and combinations. Prices start from $30 for a lunch or dinner trial meal and $448 for 14-day single or 7-day double meals. You can also choose to order 20/21/28-day lunch or dinner meals. The possibilities are endless! Enjoy early bird discounts if you order at least one month before your EDD. Find out more. Need more info? Go on over to Tian Wei Signature‘s website to see why you should consider them as your tingkat caterer during confinement. Also, read the testimonials of real mummies who have also opted for hassle-free confinement meals delivery just like me. So if you’re looking for a combination of traditional confinement food in Singapore along with an interesting fusion menu, book your confinement food delivery with Tian Wei today. I’m glad I made my booking way in advance – it’s really great to have one less thing to worry about! Wishing you all the best in your pregnancy journey! **My confinement meals were complimentary of Tian Wei Signature but all opinions in this post are my own**

The post Tian Wei Signature Confinement Food Review: 28-day Lunch & Dinner Experience appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

]]> One of the decisions I had to make when I found out I was pregnant with cdd was whether to hire a confinement nanny or go for confinement food catering. Now that we know how to bathe/feed/change a baby’s diaper as compared to when we were first-time parents, we decided to go with confinement food delivery this time.

After doing our research, the choice was clear. We went for the 28-day lunch and dinner confinement food delivery with Tian Wei Signature. My lunch and dinner for the confinement period was settled! And I am convinced I made the right choice! Here’s why:

The special menu helps with breastfeeding and proper recovery after childbirth

Eating right is vital during the confinement period. Even though I hired a confinement nanny during my #1, she wasn’t exactly the best cook. I wasn’t sure I was getting the nutrients I needed for proper recovery after childbirth. Thinking back, this could be one of the reasons I didn’t have a great breastfeeding journey. With Tian Wei confinement food, I could be assured that every meal – infused with carefully selected ingredients and herbs designed by their head chef, culinary expert Eugene Tan – would help me in my recuperation process. What’s more, their menu is pro-breastfeeding to help in breast milk production. Each meal also comes with 1 litre of red date tea! They offer one of the best traditional confinement food menus in Singapore, along with fusion dishes which you will see in this post.

A wide variety of Traditional Confinement Food, Fusion Confinement Food & Confinement Herbal Soup

For the 28 days, I never once got bored of my meals! The menu was interesting, varied and nutritious –  made up of traditional and fusion dishes that were hardly repeated.

Traditional Confinement Food
Their traditional confinement dishes include Braised Pork Trotters in Black Vinegar, Sesame Braised Chicken, Red Fermented Wine Chicken, Braised Chicken with Angelica and Herbs, Steamed Threadfin Fillet with Ginger Broth and Black Fungus and more. According to traditional confinement theory, ingredients used in these dishes – such as  old ginger , sesame oil, rice wine, black vinegar and red dates – help to dispel ‘wind’, remove ‘cold, regulate blood level and stimulate ‘qi’.

Fusion Confinement Food
Fusion dishes are added to the confinement menu for an interesting mix. You can look forward to Japanese Sesame Chicken and Stir Fried Udon, Kurobuta Pork Loin with Apple Mirin Sauce and Spaghetti, Seared Salmon with Cauliflower Cream and Tri-Colour Grains, Tian Wei Signature Coq Au Vin (a French dish of chicken braised with red wine and other yummy ingredients) and lots more lip-smacking modern dishes. I am salivating just thinking about these!

Confinement Herbal Soup
And what is a confinement meal without soup? Each meal comes with a big portion of confinement herbal soup to help in recuperating and restoring our bodies’ immunity. Honestly, I know next to nothing about herbs and can’t imagine having to prepare these soups myself. I’m more than happy to leave this to the experts! Some of the soups include: Ginseng Nourishing Soup (人参大补炖汤), Ganoderma Lucidum Stewed Chicken Soup (灵芝炖鸡汤) and the all-time favourite Green Papaya Fish Soup (青木瓜鱼汤).

Each meal comes in a generous portion

Every meal was enough for two people and I’m not exaggerating – my husband and I shared lunch and dinner every day! Read what other mummies are saying about the generous portions: Customer Testimonials

Know your daily menu in advance + special requests

Curious to know what’s on the menu? Simply key in your estimated date of delivery (EDD) here and you will be able to view what’s planned for you during your confinement period! Try it! If you have special requirements, just indicate on the online booking form and they will be able to take note. Like you will be able to request no egg and chicken for the first two weeks, or no pork liver or kidney, etc. Quite cool right?

How to order? + Enjoy early bird discounts!

Ordering is really simple! All you need to do is select your meal package online, enter any special requests, indicate if you would like any add-ons (Bird’s Nest Dessert for $20/week! yums!), make payment online and a representative will be calling you to confirm your order.

Click on this link for package prices and combinations. Prices start from $30 for a lunch or dinner trial meal and $448 for 14-day single or 7-day double meals. You can also choose to order 20/21/28-day lunch or dinner meals. The possibilities are endless! Enjoy early bird discounts if you order at least one month before your EDD. Find out more.

Need more info?

Go on over to Tian Wei Signature‘s website to see why you should consider them as your tingkat caterer during confinement. Also, read the testimonials of real mummies who have also opted for hassle-free confinement meals delivery just like me.

So if you’re looking for a combination of traditional confinement food in Singapore along with an interesting fusion menu, book your confinement food delivery with Tian Wei today. I’m glad I made my booking way in advance – it’s really great to have one less thing to worry about!

Wishing you all the best in your pregnancy journey!

**My confinement meals were complimentary of Tian Wei Signature but all opinions in this post are my own**

The post Tian Wei Signature Confinement Food Review: 28-day Lunch & Dinner Experience appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

]]> https://www.budgetpantry.com/tian-wei-confinement-food-review/feed/ 1 Busy Mat SG – Reusable Silicon Activity Mats: Review & Giveaway! https://www.budgetpantry.com/busy-mat-sg-review-and-giveaway/ https://www.budgetpantry.com/busy-mat-sg-review-and-giveaway/#respond Mon, 09 Sep 2019 08:50:40 +0000 https://www.budgetpantry.com/?p=11107 Now that Cbb is 3.5 years old, it is getting harder and harder to keep her occupied! I try to keep her off screen times but you gotta admit that the television is a convenient babysitter. With my 34-week tummy, it’s incredibly tempting to switch on YouTube and let Alex and Gaby entertain her while I rot away on the couch dreaming about her bedtime. Luckily nowadays she has a new obsession: Busy Mat SG‘s reusable food grade dining silicon colouring mats! Yep! I really love these activity mats because she can spend 1-2 hours on them, colouring, recolouring and letting her imagination run wild! I love seeing her pink pigs, blue sheeps, red bunnies and cute little rainbow butterflies. About Busy Mat SG: Reusable Food Grade Silicon Dining Mat Busy Mat SG’s silicon dining mats are reusable colouring mats that help keep your little ones off screen times. Available in a variety of themes, designs and sizes, these activity mats are easy to care for – just a simple wipe with tissue or wet wipes and the colours come right off, ready for your kids’ next colouring adventure! The best part? Busy Mat SG’s silicon dining mats are FDA certified, BPA-free and latex-free, making them safe for kids and adults. And now that Cbb is learning how to write, spending time on colouring also help in improving her grip, fine motor skills and concentration level. She definitely prefers these to regular drawing block and colour pencils! Busy Mat SG x Budgetpantry GIVEAWAY The wonderful team at Busy Mat SG has sponsored 3 sets of premium Busy Mats with 8-pc markers worth $23.30 each for Budgetpantry’s readers! Designs will be given at random. All you need to do is: Like Budgetpantry and Busy Mat SG on Facebook if you haven’t ‘Like’ and ‘Share’ this Facebook post to ‘Public’ setting with this text ‘Win a Busy Mat SG reusable silicon dining mat with Budgetpantry!‘ Leave a comment on my Facebook post telling us for whom you would love to win this for! T&Cs: One comment per person. Giveaway ends 13 Sept, Friday at 2359h. Winner will be picked randomly via Woobox. Winner to pay $3.80 for smartpac delivery. Good luck! Contact Website: https://www.busymatsg.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/busymats/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/busymatsg/

The post Busy Mat SG – Reusable Silicon Activity Mats: Review & Giveaway! appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

]]> Now that Cbb is 3.5 years old, it is getting harder and harder to keep her occupied! I try to keep her off screen times but you gotta admit that the television is a convenient babysitter. With my 34-week tummy, it’s incredibly tempting to switch on YouTube and let Alex and Gaby entertain her while I rot away on the couch dreaming about her bedtime.

Luckily nowadays she has a new obsession: Busy Mat SG‘s reusable food grade dining silicon colouring mats!

Yep! I really love these activity mats because she can spend 1-2 hours on them, colouring, recolouring and letting her imagination run wild! I love seeing her pink pigs, blue sheeps, red bunnies and cute little rainbow butterflies.

About Busy Mat SG: Reusable Food Grade Silicon Dining Mat

Busy Mat SG’s silicon dining mats are reusable colouring mats that help keep your little ones off screen times. Available in a variety of themes, designs and sizes, these activity mats are easy to care for – just a simple wipe with tissue or wet wipes and the colours come right off, ready for your kids’ next colouring adventure!

The best part? Busy Mat SG’s silicon dining mats are FDA certified, BPA-free and latex-free, making them safe for kids and adults. And now that Cbb is learning how to write, spending time on colouring also help in improving her grip, fine motor skills and concentration level. She definitely prefers these to regular drawing block and colour pencils!

Busy Mat SG x Budgetpantry GIVEAWAY

The wonderful team at Busy Mat SG has sponsored 3 sets of premium Busy Mats with 8-pc markers worth $23.30 each for Budgetpantry’s readers! Designs will be given at random. All you need to do is:

  1. Like Budgetpantry and Busy Mat SG on Facebook if you haven’t
  2. ‘Like’ and ‘Share’ this Facebook post to ‘Public’ setting with this text ‘Win a Busy Mat SG reusable silicon dining mat with Budgetpantry!‘
  3. Leave a comment on my Facebook post telling us for whom you would love to win this for!

T&Cs: One comment per person. Giveaway ends 13 Sept, Friday at 2359h. Winner will be picked randomly via Woobox. Winner to pay $3.80 for smartpac delivery. Good luck!

Contact

Website: https://www.busymatsg.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/busymats/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/busymatsg/

The post Busy Mat SG – Reusable Silicon Activity Mats: Review & Giveaway! appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

]]> https://www.budgetpantry.com/busy-mat-sg-review-and-giveaway/feed/ 0 Pregnancy #2: The third trimester – Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) https://www.budgetpantry.com/oral-glucose-tolerance-test-ogtt/ https://www.budgetpantry.com/oral-glucose-tolerance-test-ogtt/#respond Fri, 06 Sep 2019 03:55:01 +0000 https://www.budgetpantry.com/?p=11092 Ok I haven’t updated in a while because I have been busy trying to clear work before I go on my annual leave + child care leave + maternity leave combo starting tomorrow to March 2020! Can’t believe I still have a full month of AL + CCL to clear, but very thankful because I honestly need the time to prep for cdd’s arrival SOON! Today’s post is a major throwback to the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) that I took at week 28 of my pregnancy. It was more than 6 weeks ago … I am 34W1D today! Although this is my second pregnancy, it is only my first time doing the OGTT. Not that I have any symptoms to warrant the test – my weight gain has been relatively decent (+7.5kg at 28 weeks) and monthly routine urine tests came back clear – but it’s kind of the norm to test these days. I’ve heard that some private gynaes skip it though if you haven’t shown any signs of having gestational diabetes. Anyway, I still had to go for the test. Here’s how it went. The night before I had to fast for at least 10 hours and could only take sips of water. The first reading At 8.30pm, I reported to level 3 of Mount Alvernia Medical Centre. The test basically goes like this: 1. At the clinic, take the first reading before anything. This is your fasting blood glucose level 2. Drink 500ml glucose drink 3. Take the second blood glucose reading after an hour 4. Take the third blood glucose reading after two hours The nurse took a tube of blood and a urine sample. This was the first reading of the day, my fasting blood glucose level. According to the guidelines from Mount A, the fasting plasma glucose should be less than 5.1 mmol/L (92). I then had to drink a 500ml bottle of glucose drink which basically tasted like non-carbonated F&N orange, and take my second glucose level reading an hour later. This is to gauge how my body processes the glucose after an hour. The second reading In between the one hour, we went up to my gynae’s clinic for our routine appointment to see cdd! Ok at least this hour isn’t wasted sitting around waiting for blood to be drawn. At 28W1D, cdd was 997g! 2 weeks later at 30 weeks, he was 1698g (700g in 2 weeks what is this) and at 32 weeks, he hit 2.2kg. Ultrasound scans are getting boring cos he is taking up all the space and you can’t see anything at all… I went back to take my second reading. Time check: 9.36am Again, a tube of blood was drawn + a urine sample. This reading should not exceed 10.0 mmol/L (180). The third reading Time check: 10.36am By now, two hours have passed since I drank the glucose liquid. The nurse drew the last tube of blood and took my urine sample. At the end of two hours, the plasma glucose reading should be less than 8.5 mmol/L (153). And I was free to go. From the time I drank the glucose liquid till the last reading, I was not supposed to drink any water but I did take small sips. I also walked up and down the stairs and along the corridor instead of sitting down waiting. My results I didn’t get the results on the spot. My gynae told me that his clinic will call me in 1-2 days to let me know if everything was normal or not. If yes, then he will see me 2 weeks later at our next appointment. If I have gestational diabetes or am pre-GD, then I will need to see the dietician. I passed! And here are the guidelines/cut-off: My weight gain I put on 17kg in total when I had cbb… I think I can do lesser this time round! At 34 weeks, I have put on 10.5kg so far… but cdd has been growing quite fast, putting on between 500g and 700g for the past two visits. With a month to go, hopefully I can keep my weight gain below 13kg cos confinement sure put on weight. My doctor hasn’t said anything maybe because I’m having a c-section. As long as we are both healthy! Can’t wait to see you, cdd!

The post Pregnancy #2: The third trimester – Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

]]> Ok I haven’t updated in a while because I have been busy trying to clear work before I go on my annual leave + child care leave + maternity leave combo starting tomorrow to March 2020! Can’t believe I still have a full month of AL + CCL to clear, but very thankful because I honestly need the time to prep for cdd’s arrival SOON!

Today’s post is a major throwback to the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) that I took at week 28 of my pregnancy. It was more than 6 weeks ago … I am 34W1D today!

Although this is my second pregnancy, it is only my first time doing the OGTT. Not that I have any symptoms to warrant the test – my weight gain has been relatively decent (+7.5kg at 28 weeks) and monthly routine urine tests came back clear – but it’s kind of the norm to test these days. I’ve heard that some private gynaes skip it though if you haven’t shown any signs of having gestational diabetes. Anyway, I still had to go for the test. Here’s how it went.

The night before

I had to fast for at least 10 hours and could only take sips of water.

The first reading

At 8.30pm, I reported to level 3 of Mount Alvernia Medical Centre.

The test basically goes like this:

1. At the clinic, take the first reading before anything. This is your fasting blood glucose level
2. Drink 500ml glucose drink
3. Take the second blood glucose reading after an hour
4. Take the third blood glucose reading after two hours

The nurse took a tube of blood and a urine sample. This was the first reading of the day, my fasting blood glucose level. According to the guidelines from Mount A, the fasting plasma glucose should be less than 5.1 mmol/L (92).

I then had to drink a 500ml bottle of glucose drink which basically tasted like non-carbonated F&N orange, and take my second glucose level reading an hour later. This is to gauge how my body processes the glucose after an hour.

The second reading

In between the one hour, we went up to my gynae’s clinic for our routine appointment to see cdd! Ok at least this hour isn’t wasted sitting around waiting for blood to be drawn. At 28W1D, cdd was 997g! 2 weeks later at 30 weeks, he was 1698g (700g in 2 weeks what is this) and at 32 weeks, he hit 2.2kg. Ultrasound scans are getting boring cos he is taking up all the space and you can’t see anything at all…

I went back to take my second reading. Time check: 9.36am

Again, a tube of blood was drawn + a urine sample. This reading should not exceed 10.0 mmol/L (180).

The third reading

Time check: 10.36am

By now, two hours have passed since I drank the glucose liquid. The nurse drew the last tube of blood and took my urine sample. At the end of two hours, the plasma glucose reading should be less than 8.5 mmol/L (153). And I was free to go.

From the time I drank the glucose liquid till the last reading, I was not supposed to drink any water but I did take small sips. I also walked up and down the stairs and along the corridor instead of sitting down waiting.

My results

I didn’t get the results on the spot. My gynae told me that his clinic will call me in 1-2 days to let me know if everything was normal or not. If yes, then he will see me 2 weeks later at our next appointment. If I have gestational diabetes or am pre-GD, then I will need to see the dietician. I passed!

And here are the guidelines/cut-off:

My weight gain

I put on 17kg in total when I had cbb… I think I can do lesser this time round! At 34 weeks, I have put on 10.5kg so far… but cdd has been growing quite fast, putting on between 500g and 700g for the past two visits. With a month to go, hopefully I can keep my weight gain below 13kg cos confinement sure put on weight. My doctor hasn’t said anything maybe because I’m having a c-section. As long as we are both healthy! Can’t wait to see you, cdd!

The post Pregnancy #2: The third trimester – Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

]]> https://www.budgetpantry.com/oral-glucose-tolerance-test-ogtt/feed/ 0